It's a long story
by Le Wild Child
Summary: Jo had discovered Henry's secret after she found that picture of him with Abigail and Abe. Discover how I imagine the following of the "Forever" TV show.
1. Prologue

First of all, I know you already had read some revelations from Henry to Jo. But a story needs a beginning. I want to explore different sides of the story. I have some ideas of cases they can have, I want to explore Henry and Jo's relationship, the way they will act now they know his secret, if someone else will know it, this kind of things.

I want to apologize if you find some errors in my text, my main language isn't English but French, feel free to correct me.

Of course I want reviews to help me for my story, to have your opinion, you can say what you want.

I hope you will enjoy my fiction, it's been awhile I haven't wrote anything so I enjoyed doing it. Thank you for reading.

* * *

 **-See, you can manage to escape from some situations. You know what they say, it isn't over until the fat lady sings. But these situations, for most of them, might catching you up if you're not careful. I may be immortal, I'm not some kind of wizard. I do not have the possibility to make disappear things like proofs of my condition. I guess it was written. I already heard many times I was made like that for a reason. If my fate is already predicted, this have to be planned too. It's easy to lie when you do it for centuries. You know how to hide things, you are used to disappear after a couple of years. But what is not easy to do is to lie in front of someone who deserves the truth. I guess I can't escape anymore.-**

It was always a long story with Henry Morgan. Of course, it wasn't the kind of story you can tell to anyone. It's a story like ones you only hear one time in your life. A story which grows during years like it already did, like it'll continue to do. Maybe sometimes it's more thrilling than others, some passages might be more romantic to be morbid a few moments later but it's still the story of a great man.

This same great man had to tell the truth to her, the woman standing in front of him since his last sentence.

 _"It's a long story."_ He had say.

She preserved herself to say anything in response. It wasn't the moment to tell him it was enough, that she didn't want to hear that again or another of his lies. Jo has always been a patient person. She wanted to know this very long story of him but Henry was this type of talkative person for anything else but himself. If she wanted to know, she had to let him talk in his own way. Abraham was near them. He wanted him to tell her, he always wanted that. He may be old, he wasn't blind. He knew they could trust her even if she would need time to believe his father's story. But he had to help him, Henry may have two-hundred-thirty-five years, he wasn't really good in social relations, he was a loner and most of all, he was afraid. No wonder when you know his ex-wife placed him in a psychiatric institution because she thought he was crazy talking about immortality. Of course, later, she knew he didn't lie. Too bad the pain was already inflicted. Abe acted instead of his father. He pushed him back to let her enter in the shop. Henry just closed the door behind them. After that, the man walked through the room and climbed the stairs to find Abraham and Jo. Both of them were in the kitchen, the woman sit on a chair and the old man was preparing tea. Automatically, still in silence since his own words, he sat in front of the beautiful lady. During an instant which felt like an eternity, he detailed Jo's face.

The woman was looking in front of her but it was like she couldn't see the doctor. She was deep in her thoughts. And damn, how she was beautiful for Henry. Her face was thin, just as he liked it and her eyes… What a beautiful brown to color them, as her hair dropping on her shoulders. Henry's eyes looked a moment her lips. His breath was almost inexistent when he finally woke up. Abraham just had laid the cups on the table and the sound made them both react. They avoided looking at each other again. Abraham left the kitchen to let them discuss but another uncomfortable silence filled the room. Henry's look at the table like a boy caught misbehaving. Slowly, Jo took the photo she found on the floor and slipped it under his eyes, on the table.

 _"I know you don't know from where to begin. Why don't you with that?"_ Did she ask to help him.

 _"Because it started way before that."_ Was the only response he gave her. Simply, he needed to think how to narrate his long life.

He passed his hand on his face, bit softly his under lip and joined his hands together, near his cup of tea. He sighed a last time, moistened his lips and spoke again.

 _"Look, I… You should know that despite appearances, I wanted to tell you the truth since the beginning. I mean, not the very beginning because I didn't know you this well but I didn't mean to lie this much. I just had to preserve my life and... You. So I just thought the best way to do it was lying and I know…"_

 _"Henry. Look, you do a course."_ Said the young woman. She didn't mean to be rude but she knew he could talk like that during hours to explain only one thing. _"Just… Try to find your sentences before saying them. You don't have to be nervous."_

 _"Of course I have to."_

Jo wasn't capable of understanding why he said that and this way. His tone was dry as if he did not appreciate her words. She looked at him during a brief instant. She never saw him like that and it was weird. His look was down when he mumbled an apology. He took a long breath and look at her again.

 _"I'm immortal."_

His words resounded in the room while Jo looked at him during… Well, a very long time. Was he kidding her? She knew he was a man of his word and even if his lies didn't work anymore on her, he wouldn't find such an excuse. So why was he saying that? Was he lost in Lucas-land? She swallowed and looked at her tea like it was the most interesting thing in the world at this instant. Henry noticed that and pursed his lips. Maybe it wasn't the best way to say things, finally. He was certain she thought he was crazy. Unfortunately, it was true. This curse was present in his life since two centuries now.

 _"I know you will not believe it. Not like that. But I don't want you to say anything during my next… Course. Because you don't know nothing about my life and what I have been through, all the struggles that I faced just because I wanted to be true. I want you to listen to me, now. You will ask anything you want after. Understood?"_

He was so serious, Jo stayed muted because of (or thanks to) that. She just looked at him again. Despite the hypothetical veracity of these revelations, she was interested. She couldn't just believe that, of course, but why would he create such things?

 _"First of all… I'm not thirty-five. I'm just used to be since… Well, two centuries."_

Jo swallowed her tea the wrong way and coughed suddenly. Henry was desperate, he had this impression that all he said was tell in the wrong way and made him look even more ridiculous to Jo's point of view. But she was just perplexed. When she walked in the shop's direction, she never thought she would end up in this situation. But here she was, it was weird. But she wanted the truth. And if it was his truth, well, she had to listen. She cared about him, too much maybe, she decided to listen after she had wipe her mouth with the towel Henry has brought.

 _"I'm sorry. Please, continue."_ She said.

But the doctor wasn't going to return on his chair now. She felt his hands on her shoulders and not long after, his breath near her ear. His question was blown.

 _"Do you believe it?"_

She didn't move since his hands touched her. She stayed still and had to find her words.

 _"It's not that. It's just… I mean, how can I do it like that? It's a lot, Henry."_

 _"So, do you think I'm crazy?"_ He was in a weird state, his fingers pressed Jo's shoulders. She didn't like that.

 _"Never."_ She didn't hesitate for her answer, not even one second. She knew he wasn't.

She felt him released her from his hands and for an instant, she was relieved. She didn't like the way he acted because she knew it came from his panic. And she didn't know why he was so anxious. Ok, his story was hard to believe and she really didn't know what to say but still. She was his friend. She stood up and looked at him. He was leaning against the kitchen furniture, arms crossed. She saw his hands, softly caressed his own arms like he was searching for some kind of comfort. Slowly, she came near to him and her hands found their way to his cheeks. Thanks to that, she could raise his head to make him look at her. Her voice had a lower tone when she spoke again.

 _"Henry, calm down. Please, calm down, I don't like to see you like that."_

She stared at him during a long moment of silence. Her eyes had met his and they didn't move during all of this instant. She could read all of his panic, all of his insecurities through his two dark irises. His distress and his fear. Her thumbs, softly, moved against his cheeks. She didn't even noticed but she had this need deeper in her, she had to help him.

 _"During your past… Someone really hurted you, am I right?"_

 _"I was not insane. I am not. But she…"_ He couldn't finish his sentence. It was still hurting him. Not only because Nora put him in a psychiatric institution but because the most important person for him at this time didn't believe him and betrayed him. Abigail's reaction was good, even if they weren't talking that much about his past. And if Jo could not bear his secret? Will he have to leave this city and start all over again? He knew he couldn't let his feelings gain the upper hand on his reason but he didn't want to leave New-York, not now.

 _"Tell me, Henry. You told me you would tell me everything. You can trust me, I'm not like this person, ok? Keep going, I will not leave."_ She promised. She wouldn't leave and let him be in this state.

He stared at her during some seconds. His own screams from 1815 were perceptible to his ears, when he was forced to go in the Charring Cross Asylum, in a cage, when he was imploring Nora to have him get out of this place and how she abandoned him. It was painful to think about it and it wasn't because he was two centuries old that he didn't remember well his entire story. It was quite the opposite and it was hurting him as hell. His breath was fast and he seemed to search his words before he mumbled the year. Jo didn't move, exactly two hundred years before that, something happened in his life.

 _"I was… Thirty-five for real this time. When I told my ex-wife I was an immortal, she…"_

Jo didn't know anything about Nora, of course, but she knew he wasn't talking about Abigail. His eyes looked gradually down when he sighed his next words.

 _"She threw me in this place, this institution, this asylum…"_

 _"What? Henry, what asylum?"_ Asked carefully Jo to not rush the doctor. This one closed his eyes, a shiver crossing his back at the same time.

 _"If you don't trust me, I can prove it to you. She didn't want to, but I can."_

 _"No, Henry, you don't have to. We just need to talk and… Make it all clear, ok? Come."_ She said as she walked towards the couch in the living room, holding his arm. They both sat on it and Jo was still looking at Henry's face while he kept it down.

 _"I'm not like this women, Henry, I'll listen to you and try to understand and... I'll try to believe you, alright?"_ She knew she had to change his mood. She took a tone a little bit more lighthearted, intrigued by what he could tell her. _"So, tell me. I want to know everything you want to tell me about you, your condition, how do you live with that?"_ She asked leaning slightly her face, trying to see Henry clearly.

This one looked finally at her. She would appreciate this detail. He preferred to talk about that.

 _"Well, let's say I live normally. I still feel things, I still feel pain, I still can die. I just come back every time. Always in the East River. Naked."_ He said, looking at her, looking at her lips when these two widened. Her laugh came at his ears and he couldn't help himself but smiled. It was better than the precedent subject.

 _"That would explain a lot of things!"_ She answered. This anecdote was pretty funny. But a detail stopped her. " _But, Henry. Does it mean you die a lot? I don't understand, you said you were immortal but now, that you can die?"_

The doctor cleaned his throat.

 _"Do you remember the scar on my chest?"_

 _"Yes. You told me you were shoot."_

 _"It was the first time. See, my father had a shipping company. It's a long story I will tell you another time. One day, I was on one of his boat, the Empress of Africa and…"_

 _"Wait."_ She interrupted him, making him looking at her again.

 _"I see you remember quite clearly what boat it is. Anyway. I was already a doctor, I will not tell you all the details but the captain of the ship_ _shot_ _me and threw me in the ocean. But I survived, I mean, my condition began at this time. Since this moment… I died a lot."_

 _"And since we know each other?"_

Henry turned slightly his head towards hers.

 _"Well, too many times."_

A silence came between them, while they were looking at each other in the eyes. She had to believe it but it wasn't easy. She was about to say something when her phone rang. Henry looked at her gesture to take it in her pocket and just kept looking at her while she talked to... Lucas?

 _"What is it about, Lucas?"_

 _"I tried to call Henry but… Abraham just told me to mind my own business, I didn't understand very well but we have a problem in the morgue, I had to call someone."_

After a sigh, Jo answered.

 _"Well, it's your lucky day, I'm with Henry. You're on speaker, tell us."_

 _"There is a corpse."_

Jo and Henry looked at each other before the doctor answered. Jo couldn't help but think she loved his accent.

 _"If there is a corpse in the morgue, Lucas, it's not really a problem, it's where it belongs to be."_

 _"No, I mean someone brought a corpse while there was no one, a young woman, her throat is slit and nobody can tell who she is. Generally, when an employee gives us a corpse, he calls us or at least leaves a document. So I think…"_

 _"The person who brought the corpse is the murdrer."_ Said Henry with the look he has when he understands something serious, interrupting Lucas.

 _"We're on our way."_ Told Jo before hanging up.

The partners stood up and walked out the store after having say what happened to Abraham. Near Jo's car, Henry spoke.

 _"Detective. I would be pleased you don't talk about you know what to the others."_

 _"Your secret is safe with me."_ She answered with a wink. But what could she say anyway? That her colleague says he's immortal? Not like that, she had to think about it.


	2. Chapter 1 - Black Button

Here is the chapter 1, "Black Button". Like for the prologue, feel free to post a review about anything (like my english haha) or the story itself. I want your opinion because even if it kinda sucks, it's the first time I write something like that. The research part was fun but I don't think the case is that good.

Please, enjoy !

* * *

The ride was done silently. They both needed to think about the last revelations. The only moment they talked was when Jo asked to Henry if he died the day they met.

 _"You were in the subway. I thought you were the one who killed these persons but actually you.."_

 _"With a subway's railing deep inside my chest."_

Jo grimaced as Henry did after his sentence. He didn't like to talk about the moments he died because he hated thinking of them. But it wasn't the worst way to die, he just wanted to end the conversation. And it worked pretty well. Jo was looking at Henry during a moment. She thought he probably suffered all his life because of that, he may have lost a lot, it seemed like his deaths are not the softer and she was certain of one thing, Abigail didn't really leave him. Not like she thought she did.

They entered the morgue. Lucas and Hanson were near the body, lying on one of the metallic tables. Henry took off his jacket, took the time to put it in his office before he come back with his doctor coat and his gloves on his hands. He stopped in front of the two other guys with his usual smile, the table separating them.

 _"Lucas, what do we have here?"_

 _"A Jane Doe, at last for now, we will receive the results of the DNA test in a while. The work wasn't done properly, it was brutal."_

Henry was a little closer to the body and inspected it.

 _"There is a bruise on the neck, under the cut."_

He stayed silent during a little moment and finished by raising his head towards Jo.

 _"That's strange. This is the only mark on the body. If she wanted to protect herself, there should be signs of a fight. But there is only one mark and it's the one done during the cutting process. Lucas, do you mind look under her nails?"_

 _"Of course."_

The assistant checked these zones right away but no skin was found, like the woman didn't want to relieve herself from her assailant. During this time, Henry looked for other things he could discover on the body.

 _"Perhaps she was unconscious?"_ Asked Hanson to the doctor. This one shook his head.

 _"Actually, she was, but for good."_

 _"What? Do you mean…"_

 _"Yes. She was dead before he did that to her."_

Jo and Hanson looked at each other before looking again at Henry.

 _"So, how did she die?"_ Asked Jo.

 _"Well, let's find that out."_ Answered Henry while he raised his knife.

The two cops chose to leave the morgue, for their stomachs' sake.

 _"Look at that, Lucas."_ Said Henry after the debut of the autopsy, looking at her left eye.

 _"Yeah, I see that. She has a glaucoma. But why didn't she treated it?"_

 _"Because it probably came from an ocular hypertony, it was sudden. The pressure inside her eye had totally increased and her trabeculum was unable to evacuate the aqueous humor anymore."_

 _"But why the pressure increased like that?"_

Henry glanced at Lucas and responded.

 _"She was totally dehydrated. Her temperature increased because of a vasodilation and an absence of sweat, she had no saliva at all, all these symptoms, with the ocular hypertony, bring one conclusion to me. This woman was poisoned."_

 _"With what?"_

 _"Atropine, Lucas."_

Henry was Lucas's model. He thought that one of his graphic novels should be dedicated to a hero like him. Instead of that, he concentrated his energy to be more like the doctor. Unfortunately, Henry never accepted to let him wear one of his scarfs.

 _"So, we just need to find a mark from where the poison was injected?"_ Proposed Lucas.

 _"There will be none."_

Henry glanced at Lucas during a moment, He waited for him to understand how this woman had poison in his body. Suddenly, it came like an evidence to the young assistant.

 _"I know!"_ Said Lucas with happiness before he stops smiling. It was a serious matter. " _I mean, I know. The atropine can be found in some sorts of plants."_

 _"Yes, from Solanaceae family to be precise."_

 _"In the belladonna, the datura, the jusquiame and the mandrake."_

Henry waited for Lucas to take the decision to do some exams but this one didn't seem to know exactly what he had to do right away, because he didn't know which plant exactly poisoned the woman. The doctor wanted him to understand by himself how he could know what poison attacked her body but maybe he needed a little more help.

 _"Now, look at her eye, the one without the glaucoma."_

 _"Her pupil is so dilated… Mydriasis?"_

 _"Exactly. So, Lucas, what plant causes mydriasis between the four you cited?"_

 _"Every single of them if it the jusquiame was black. I got it."_

Lucas knew what exams he had to do to find what plant poisoned her. Jo and Hanson came back in the morgue after the discussion between Lucas and Henry. The assistant was busy with the body and the doctor gave Jo his usual bright smile.

 _"We have her name and her address. Clara Fyler. Ready to take a look there, doctor?"_ Asked Hanson.

 _"I was waiting for you."_

Sooner, they were at the victim's apartment. During the ride, Henry explained to Hanson and Jo how the victim was murdered. He explained the slit in her throat should have been done post-mortem to hide the real cause and bring a false piste to the cops. Jo knocked on the door and explained the situation to Henry.

 _"Apparently, she live with a man."_

 _"Her husband?"_ Asked Henry before Hanson answered.

 _"No, a roommate."_

This one opened the door, asking who they were.

 _"NYPD, we're here to ask you some questions about your roommate and to see her apartment."_ Said Jo while she was showing her plate.

 _"Why, what happened to her?"_

 _"She was murdered."_ Said Henry with absolutely no precaution, entering the apartment.

The roommate looked at him, in an apparent shock state. Hanson sighed before talking with him. Jo entered in the apartment and Henry looked at the place and listened to the conversation at the same time.

 _"Since when you two live together?"_

 _"It's been three years now. We're doing that for our studies."_

 _"What did she studied?"_

 _"Psychology. But… Murdered, how?"_

Henry was looking into the drawers and kitchen cabinets and talked instead of Hanson.

 _"She was poisoned. So, now, tell me, since when you two are sleeping together?"_ Said the doctor, rotating his body towards the young man and clasping his hands. " _Slept would be more appropriate but well…"_

Jo and Hanson exchanged a look and continued to search after every single detail in the apartment. Every knives were presents in their display. Jo decided to go into Clara's bedroom while Hanson stayed with Henry just in case the roommate attacked him because of his way of speaking.

 _"What the hell is the problem with your mate man?"_

 _"I am a doctor."_

 _"Calm down, John, he's always like that. Now, answer him."_ Said Hanson.

 _"I… We didn't sleep together."_

 _"But you liked her very much, right? "_ Henry resumed.

 _"She didn't, ok? Now do whatever you want to do but faster, I need to go to the university."_

 _"My job here is done. Hanson, please, do you mind let me wait in the car?"_

Hanson sighed and gave him the keys. Henry left the apartment under John's gaze and Jo left the room with a notebook in her hands and some photos.

Both of them left the apartment and joined Henry in the car. Jo gave him the diary of the young woman and Hanson looked at the photos. During this time, Jo answered at her phone, it was Lucas.

 _"Henry, it's for you."_

She gave him the phone.

 _"Hello, Lucas, what did you find?"_

 _"She drank it. It's the belladonna."_

 _"Good job, Lucas. We are on our way, don't leave the morgue."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"Don't leave."_

Henry hung up Jo's cell phone and gave it back to her.

 _"Lucas found the poison. It's the belladonna."_

 _"Belladonna?"_ Hanson didn't really know what it was.

 _"Or Black Button. It's a plant, a very toxic one. You can use it in the medical field but it has to be controlled. Did you know why it is call like that? In Italian, "bella donna" means "beautiful lady", they used an ointment of this plant to dilate their pupils. With that, they were considered as seductive and attractive. If an adult eats a single leaf of the plant, it's fatal."_

 _"So how did she eat this leaf?"_

 _"Actually, she drank it. An infusion was sufficient. We need to find the scene of the crime, I have a theory, I need to return to the morgue."_

 _"Well, doc, we will leave you there and we will continue our research at the police station."_

Henry arrived at the morgue with his usual way of walking, he was in a hurry and he had to act quickly.

 _"Lucas, what do you think about a little trip in the New York University School of Medicine?"_

 _"I think it would be better with me."_

Henry turned around and looked at the woman who had just spoken. He gave her his bright smile and rubbed his hands together.

 _"Jo. I thought you had to go to the…"_

 _"And let you do whatever you planned to do? I know you too much, Henry."_

 _"I guess I have to stay here now?"_ Said Lucas. He wanted to go with Henry more than anything.

 _"You guess well."_ Said Jo with a look at the assistant.

 _"Let me get my scarf, Jo, and we will go."_ Henry seemed to be as excited as before despite his plan had changed.

They arrived at the university, the sky was dark, it was the night. Jo didn't really know what she was waiting for but Henry told they had to stay in the car. She looked at him but he seemed like he was searching something outside the car. Still, he answered.

 _"How did you know for Clara's university?"_

 _"Her diary. The logo was stuck on it."_

 _"Ok and why are we here?"_

 _"For him."_ Said Henry as he opened the car's door.

Jo looked at the university. The door closed and soon, she saw Henry heading towards the building. She quickly joined him.

 _"Henry wait, tell me what you're doing. I don't want you to do some crazy things again."_

 _"The diary, the photos. She was in love with another man."_

 _"What are you talking about?"_

 _"Don't you see? This case is easy, this time. Her roommate was madly in love with her, they went to the same university, didn't you see his sweater? But he doesn't study psychology. He studied medicine."_

 _"Is it him?"_

 _"Yes. He couldn't accept she left him for another man."_

Both of them entered in the building.

 _"That's why he could come in the morgue without being suspicious. He had the material, clothes and whatever he needed. He was tormented, he wanted us to find the body, to let her have a decent burial but he didn't want to be catch, he has too much to lose."_

Henry knew the university, he pushed the doors and entered into the laboratory. It didn't take him a lot of time to find the vessel containing the mixture. He smelled it.

 _"Belladonna. We have it."_

 _"Is there the knife?"_

Jo was searching after the weapon but she didn't find him.

 _"No, we will not find it here."_

 _"Henry!"_

All of a sudden, Jo pulled Henry in her direction, the student with a knife missing his target. But he didn't want to let it go and threw himself on Henry. This one fell and received a punch on his face.

 _"You killed her, you son of a b…"_

 _"Freeze, NYPD!"_ Shouted Jo, her gun between her hands.

The young man raised his head towards her and looked again at Henry, slowly realising. It wasn't Clara's roommate. Henry blinked a few times.

 _"NYPD, but… I thought…"_

 _"Down. Now!"_

Jo was so angry at this man. He finally let Henry and retreated. Jo handcuffed him before looking at Henry.

 _"Are you ok? Let me see."_

She went near the doctor and looked at his face. Some blood was on his under lip but it seemed he was ok.

 _"I'm fine, it's ok, Jo."_ Said Henry before looking at the man.

 _"Who the hell are you?"_ Asked Jo, still mad at him.

 _"D-David… Clara's boyfriend. I really thought it was… That it was John…"_

 _"I can clearly see that." Or feel it."_ Said Henry in response, passing his finger on his lips and looking at the blood.

 _"I'm so sorry…"_

 _"You'll come with me at the police station, we have some questions."_

Henry, once standing, followed them. Jo seemed worried for him but he kept saying he was alright.

At the police station, Hanson and Jo asked some questions to David before heading to the morgue. Henry was there, standing near the table with the corpse. He looked like he was in his thoughts with ice on his jaw.

 _"You ok, doc?"_ Asked Hanson. Henry seemed to emerge from his head.

 _"Yes, thank you for asking, detective. What did you learn from this valiant man?"_

Hanson had a sort of laugh before Jo answered. Henry let the ice on a table and came near them.

 _"It was John's best friend. And Clara's new boyfriend. It seems like he know John did that to Clara, he was mad at him. He found the poison in the lab and understood immediately."_

 _"I guess I can't really be angry, his friend murdered his girlfriend."_ Sighed Henry. " _Did you arrest John?"_

 _"He's nowhere to be find right now."_ Said Hanson, bothered. " _I guess he's already far."_

 _"I don't think so. He let the poison in the lab. Did you read Clara's diary? Maybe there is some hint of where he could have go. A place where they usually meet or something like that. We still didn't found the crime scene, maybe he need to clean everything."_

 _"We will keep searching, doc."_

Hanson left the morgue and let Jo and Henry together.

 _"Let me see your face."_ She said while walking towards the doctor. She put one of her hand under Henry's chin and raised his face a little, looking at the injury. His lip was a little split and he had a small blue on his jaw. She felt him grabbing her hand to remove it from his skin. He glanced her.

 _"I'm ok, Jo, I really am. You don't have to worry, it could have been worse."_

 _"But…"_

 _"Jo."_

She fell in silence.

 _"I'm sorry, I can't help myself."_

 _"I can see that. Why are you so worried? It was just a punch and I'm…"_

 _"Immortal, I know. But… It's not because you are I will stop worrying. I'm not…"_

 _"Used to it? Or you still don't believe it."_

 _"I don't know."_

They were close from each other and there was a silence during a moment. He still had her hand between his fingers.

 _"I really don't know, Henry, you know I try to believe it."_

He didn't say anything. He just looked at her during a moment. His fingers gently pushed back a strand of Jo's hair.

 _"I know."_

During this moment, she stopped breathing, like she forgot how to do it. They were still looking at each other when the door opened on Lucas.

 _"Doctor Morgan, I heard you…"_

When Lucas raised his head from his papers, he stopped talking and walking. He mentally insulted himself when he saw the move of recoil from the detective and his boss.

 _"I'm sorry, I can… Come back later."_

He was about turning around. Actually, he already walked a few steps towards the door when he stopped again when he heard Jo's voice, closing his eyes.

 _"No, you know what, I have work to do. See you, Henry."_

She quickly escaped from the room, greeting Lucas on her way. This one felt really dumb. He hardly looked at Henry while he was walking towards the corpse.

 _"Tell me, Lucas, what did you hear?"_

 _"Nothing, I promise, I didn't spied you while you were with her, if I had I would never have walked in, I would have let you do whatever you were about to do, I promise!"_

 _"Lucas."_

 _"Y-Yes?"_

 _"I was talking about what you were about to say when you walked in."_

 _"Oh. I just... I-I… Your jaw. I mean, I heard this guy punched you."_

 _"Well, he did."_

 _"And... You're ok?"_

 _"I guess I am."_

Henry turned away and walked into his office. He needed some peace. Lucas looked around, felt dumb again and decided to continue to work instead of rehashing what he has done.


	3. Chapter 2 - Black Knife

**_Here is the next chapter of my fiction! I hope you will enjoy it (I bet you will)._**

 ** _Leslie: Puisque je ne peux répondre directement à ta review par mp (sadness in me), je me permets de le faire ici. En réalité je suis belge, mais sens toi libre de commenter, ça me fait très plaisir, haha ! Tout d'abord, merci du compliment qui me touche, ensuite je me suis toujours dis que le mieux à faire, c'était de ne pas forcément passer par quatre chemins pour parler du secret d'Henry. Parce que peu importe la façon dont il le fera, il y aura ce doute en elle, donc autant foncer dans le tas puisque le résultat sera le même. Mais je fais de plus en plus évoluer ce côté "sceptique" durant les chapitres pour trouver la façon dont elle finira par le croire. Et c'est justement à cause de la peur d'en parler que je l'ai fait si paniqué lors du Prologue! Mais encore merci pour ta review.~_**

* * *

 _"So this man punched you because he thought you were the murderer and… That's all?"_

Henry and Abraham were eating, after this tough day for the doctor.

 _"They need to find John. But something is weird in this story."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"Maybe he actually wanted to kill her. Let's say he did. He was in love with her, why would he slit her throat like that? It was brutal and unnecessary."_

 _"Didn't you say he wanted to hide the fact she was poisoned?"_

 _"But something is not right. I can't tell what but I feel it. I don't know what I have to do."_

 _"What you do every time."_

 _"But they will arrest him tomorrow because I said it was him. I can't let my doubts ruining this case."_

 _"Every time you had some doubts, it was correct."_

 _"Almost every time."_

 _"Yeah, there was this time with Gloria, so what? I can help you."_

 _"Abe. I knew it was for that you wanted me to continue the investigation."_

 _"Of course not, I have my own life!"_

After their discussion, Henry went in his laboratory for a moment. He needed to think. Once he was in his bedroom, he thought about Jo. She still didn't believe him but she didn't scream that he was crazy, that was a good point. But how could he show her? Today someone punched him in the face and she was so worried, he just couldn't kill himself in front of her just to prove he said the truth. He went at his window to close the drapes when he stopped his gesture. He squinted in order to see better the silhouette near the alley, looking towards his window. He couldn't really discern it and he went to sleep just after. It wasn't necessarily important.

At the morgue, the next day, he was asking himself how someone could talk so much because he just couldn't stop Lucas but fortunately for him, he had some luck when Jo walked in the room.

 _"So I asked him why he did som…"_ Was saying Lucas before Henry interrupted him.

 _"Detective, I'm glad you're here."_

 _"Good morning, Henry. Lucas."_

 _"Oh, detective. I… Have work to do."_

Finally said the assistant, leaving the room a little bit quickly. Henry had his smile on his face, like always.

 _"Detective, I have a theory and…"_

 _"Henry. We arrested him, it's over, we just need him to confess."_

 _"But he didn't murder her."_

 _"But you said…"_

 _"Yesterday, I thought he did. But he couldn't and he have a pretty good alibi since he was at the university."_

 _"How do you know that?"_

 _"I… Made some calls."_

 _"During the night? Is that all you have to do?"_

Hanson arrived at this instant.

 _"Jo, it's not him. His alibi was verified and he was at the university."_

A silence followed his declaration. Hanson understood the doctor had already figured that out.

 _"We need to search again."_

 _"Like I said to the detective Martinez a minute ago, I have a theory."_

 _"Tell us."_

 _"Well, we know what poisoned her but do we know how the murderer had the poison?"_

 _"It was in the university, I guess it come from there."_ Said Jo.

 _"I think so. But why? The belladonna, like other toxic plants, are very supervised. A student couldn't have this kind of product by himself."_

 _"I think we need to go in the university, ask some things to his professor."_

After the evening Jo and Henry had the day before, the university was friendlier during day time. They walked through the corridors, heading towards the laboratory when they were some hours ago. Students were going out of the room when they arrived but there still was the professor.

 _"Mister Dawn, NYPD."_ Said Jo as she showed her number plate.

 _"The police? What can I do for you?"_

 _"I don't know if you heard about Clara Fyler, a student in psychology."_

 _"Is she the one who was murdered? I heard this story, I hoped it was false."_

 _"Unfortunately, it is not. Do you mind we ask you some questions?"_

 _"If I can help you in any way…"_

Jo glanced at Henry and this one walked towards the professor.

 _"Sir, I'm the medical expert on this case, Doctor Henry Morgan. Our victim was poisoned with belladonna. I'm not a botanical expert but I know you can't have belladonna in a flower shop. But we found some of this poison in Clara's body and… Here exactly."_

 _"Are you suspecting me?"_

 _"No, but we do have a suspect and he follow your classes."_

 _"Well, we began a group work recently, I have this kind of plants because every group has one of them. There is not only belladonna. But they can have an access to the plants only during lessons hours."_

 _"John is one of your students. Does he have this access?"_

The professor's look was clear. He decided to verify the presence of the different plants.

 _"We don't manipulate them every day so I kept them in a safe place, I don't want... Some accidents to happen."_

He was really uncomfortable.

 _"Mister Dawn, it's not your fault."_ Said Jo.

 _"I… I do this kind of experiments every year, I never thought something like that could happen."_

He opened the metal locker to check the plants. After a minute, he looked at the doctor and the detective.

 _"I-It's not here anymore, I don't understand. I always have this locker closed. I'm the only one who have the keys."_

 _"You said it was a group project. Who was John's mate?"_

 _"Well, at first, it was with David. But from what I understood, I'm not really into my student's life, they had an argument. David came a few days ago to ask me to change his project. John looked really dejected and the boy claimed he didn't want to make things be even worse. So I reorganized some things and I found him another group. He changed his place with Kim, an excellent student from my class, she was volunteer to change. The last time I saw her, she didn't seem to be really happy."_

 _"Do you know where we can find her?"_

 _"I really don't know. I didn't see her since three days. I don't always have these students but she's my assistant. She does a lot of extra activities, I figured it was because of that."_

 _"Do you have something to join her, a number of something?"_

 _"Of course, let me write it for you. If she doesn't answer, it always means she's at her singing class. They're preparing a spectacle or something like that."_

They both left the class with the phone number of this girl and the address of her singing courses. When Jo tried to call her, she didn't answer.

 _"It seems we will need to search her at her course._ _I'm wondering Henry, when I think at your… Age, your real age I mean, what kind of music do you like?"_

 _"Like I told you one day, I'm a classicist, trust me. And I really like the operas."_

 _"I see."_

Jo had a little smile on her face. It wasn't really surprising, even if he wasn't immortal or whatever he was, she knew he would prefer this kind of music.

When they arrived, it appears they were in a theatre. Kim's singing class had to prepare the spectacle. A young girl came to talk to them, asking if they needed help. Her voice was a bit scratched and she didn't articulate very well.

 _"NYPD, are you a participant? Is your professor there? We need to ask him if he saw a girl named Kim."_

 _"The professor is not here, he just left a few minutes ago with some of the students to bring some material."_

 _"And Kim, is she here?"_

 _"No, she is not. She was supposed to take part of the spectacle but.. There was a problem. So she's not here anymore."_

 _"A problem?"_

 _"With her voice. She can't sing anymore."_

 _"I see. You don't know where she can be now?"_

 _"I don't really know her, I'm just here to help a little bit."_

 _"Thank you for your time."_

Disappointed, Henry and Jo left the room. But Henry stopped his walk.

 _"Kim can't sing anymore. But why can't she?"_

 _"What is it Henry?"_

 _"This girl said… She was there to help. And that Kim wasn't there because she wasn't able to sing anymore."_

 _"I know, I was right beside you, Henry. Henry? What is it now?"_

 _"It was Kim."_

 _"What?"_

 _"Some singers have this problem, when they force too much their voice, they can develop vocal nodules. Didn't you hear how her voice was scratched?"_

 _"But why would she lie?"_

 _"Kim was Professor Dawn's assistant, if she had an access to his office, she could take the key and take the plant. She could poison Clara."_

Henry already had his back turned to Jo, heading towards the room where they were a minute ago. They both entered again in a hurry, but the girl was nowhere to be seen.

 _"For what I know, only guilty people do this kind of things."_

 _"But why would she have killed Clara?"_

 _"We need to find out why."_

At the commissariat, Jo and Hanson had to ask questions again to John. After all, he knew Kim.

 _"She's a good friend of mine. So what? You suspect me and now her? Don't you have real work to do?"_

 _"Please, John, if you're that innocent, don't you want to know what happened to the girl you loved?"_

 _"Of course I do but I don't see why Kim is implicated."_

 _"Do you have a good relation with her?"_

 _"Yes, I know her very well, that's why she accepted to change with David for the work. She's a good friend."_

 _"She's always there for you, isn't she?"_

"… _Yes, she is."_

 _"Did you talk to her about what happened between you, Clara and David?"_

 _"Of course I did, she was the only one there for me! My best friend and my ex-girlfriend lied to my face, I only had her. I'm not that appreciated on the campus."_

 _"And she only had you."_

 _"No, she had plenty of friends at her singing court."_

 _"But she had to quit."_

 _"What?"_

 _"She can't sing anymore, she has a health problem. She only had you. And you were so unhappy."_

 _"She wouldn't have done that!"_

 _"Where is she, John?"_

 _"She didn't do that!"_

 _"John! It's important, where is she?"_

 _"I… How would I know?"_

 _"John."_

 _"I-I… I can give you her address… Or… I don't know, she didn't come at my apartment since a while. I don't think she will go there."_

 _"I hope for you we will find her."_

John seemed desperate. In the other hand, at the morgue, something totally different happened. After the research Jo and Henry did, this one decided to return to his work place to think about the case, waiting for Jo's call. But when he passed the door, Lucas was there, ready to talk to him. Henry hoped it wasn't about his week-end again, since the assistant was interrupted by Jo this morning but Lucas was far from thinking about his cousin's love story and how he was at his cousin's girlfriend's apartment to reconquer her for him.

 _"Doctor Morgan, you're here. I didn't know you knew people from Brooklyn."_

Henry was taken aback by these greetings and didn't understand what he was talking about. With a little smile, he shook his head while he took off his jacket and his scarf.

 _"I'm tempted to say it's because I don't know anyone from Brooklyn."_

 _"But this guy seems to know you. At last, he was looking for you."_

 _"And what is his name?"_

 _"He didn't say. He just asked for you but you weren't there. I told him that and he gave me a paper. I left it on your desk."_

"Henry started towards walk to his office, Lucas on his heels."

 _"And how was he?"_

 _"Young. I think. I mean, I wouldn't give him more than eighteen, maybe twenty years and his face was damaged."_

 _"What do you mean?"_ Asked the doctor as he passed his office's door.

 _"Burnt."_

Henry stopped his walk. He slowly turned around and looked at Lucas.

 _"Burnt?"_

 _"Yeah, I mean, I don't think it was this part of his body which was the most burnt. It began at his temple and it continued under his left ear. I think it was more burnt under but I couldn't see. He had a tank top and I saw his neck was pretty damaged but he has bandages on the chest and his left arm. Despite that, I don't think it was a recent burnt and he had a good doctor to take care of him. And he had a hoarsely. He didn't talk that much. He just asked if you were there."_

Henry didn't say anything. He looked a moment at Lucas who didn't know what to do. He finally walked near his desk and took the paper. It was bent double.

 _"When he knew you weren't there, he took it from his backpack. I didn't look."_

Henry was nervous. Not because he thought he was in some kind of danger. But because he thought he already met this person. And he wasn't wrong. When he looked at the paper, he saw a drawing. A pretty good drawing. It was the person who came to see him and he knew him. Or maybe he had to say "her". It wasn't a boy. Her haircut and her style, with the bandages on the chest and the hoarsely, it was normal Lucas didn't see the difference.

 _"So… What does it say?"_

Henry glanced at Lucas. He seemed really taken aback. He finally cleared his throat.

 _"I… I actually know him."_

 _"That's what I love with this city, you always meet people you know everywhere."_

 _"Yes… That's a good point here…"_

 _"Are you ok, doc? Is it a bad news?"_

 _"No, it's not. I'm just a little confused. Don't worry."_

 _"Oookay. I'm… Getting back to work."_

 _"Yes, do that."_

Henry looked at the drawing again. He knew he didn't have to find "him", she would just come again by herself, Henry just needed to wait for her. He thought about the silhouette he saw a day ago. The drawing was there just to let him know who she was but it also meant another thing. And he didn't know if it was good.

The door suddenly opened again.

 _"Lucas, please, I need to…"_

 _"Henry, it's me, we have the girl."_

Henry followed Jo immediately. She was in her building, the detective and the doctor arrived after a little ride. The two of them entered the building and walked towards Kim's apartment. Jo knocked at the door.

 _"Kim, NYPD, we have a warrant!"_

There was no response. Jo tried to open the door. It worked, she didn't lock herself in. They walked in in silence, diligently. They stopped at the end of the corridor. Jo looked in the inside of the room in silence. Kim was sitting on the floor and the detective saw only her back. She came near Henry again.

 _"She has a knife."_

 _"Let me talk to her."_

 _"No, Henry, you're crazy. Let me handle this."_

Jo walked to the end of the corridor.

 _"Kim. This is the police. Lay the knife, no harm will be done."_

 _"I don't want to. I don't want you to have your weapon. Leave."_

 _"Kim, this is not a game. Just lay the knife."_

The girl stood up and turned around to see the detective. She pressed the knife harder between her fingers. Henry showed himself despite what Jo had said. He was near her and raised his hands.

 _"Look, Kim, I don't have any weapon. I just want to talk with you."_

 _"No, you want to lock me up! You want to take me the only thing I have!"_

 _"Your freedom, I know. You can't sing anymore, you killed Clara and…"_

 _"I did it for him! He was so… So sad. I know how it's like to be… To be unhappy because you lost something very important."_

She was shaking and had stepped back while she was talking. Thanks to that, Henry saw the blood on the floor. It was there that Clara was killed, he knew it. Jo put her gun in its holster.

 _"Look, Kim, we don't want to hurt you. We want you to come with us."_

 _"You don't care about me, what do you think? I'm not a psychopath!"_

 _"I know, Kim._ Said Henry. _You did that for him. Because you love him, right? He was unhappy. You wanted him to feel a little bit better."_

 _"He didn't have to see her every day in his best friend's arms."_

 _"I know how you feel, how it is to see someone you love being unhappy."_

He remembered clearly how Abigail was during her old years. She couldn't walk with Henry outside because it was weird. She didn't want that and she had a lot of pain during this time. Jo looked at him. She still had a lot to learn from him.

 _"If you want him to be serene, now, you have to come with us."_

 _"I don't have to come with you, you just want me to come."_

Jo made a step towards the young and nervous girl. This one stepped back as she brandished her knife.

 _"Don't move or I will use it on you, don't move!"_

 _"Kim, you don't want to do that."_

 _"But I can!"_

 _"Kim…"_

 _"Shut up!"_

Soon, they could see her teardrops. Jo moved again, so did Kim. She didn't have anything to lose anymore, she didn't hesitate to use her knife. A lot of things happened at the same time. Henry recoiled Jo who was taking her weapon, Kim approach and used her knife. Three shots could be heard before the girl fell on the ground.

Jo needed some seconds to realize what happened. She put her gun back in her holster and approached the corpse.

 _"Are you ok, Henry?"_

Jo was looking at the room. There was the bowl with the poison and the blood on the floor from Clara's throat. She sighed and looked at Henry.

 _"At least we..."_

She stopped. Henry was looking at her, didn't blink once and his mouth was a little bit opened. Jo frowned, looked down and stepped back.

 _"H-Henry..."_

Suddenly, he took a long breath. He stepped back in a clumsy move. He closed his eyes while he was trying to search his breath. Jo approached quickly. She was panicked. But Henry moved before she did something. One of his hands searched blindly the knife having him stab. He put his fingers on it, had a shortness of breath before he slowly removed the knife from his stomach. During this moment, he looked at Jo, he thought at how much he hated being stabbed and how he wanted her to not suffer. He had another step back, tried to talk and hardly swallowed. He closed his eyes and slowly bent down. He tried not to fall but Jo was already near him. A noise was heard when Henry dropped the knife on the ground. His body was numbing as his blood was besmirching his clothes. He put one of his hands on his injury while Jo helped him to lie down. Her hands were on his face when he was finally on the floor.

 _"Hen-Henry, don't worry, it'll be ok…"_

The doctor had some difficulties to articulate but he did.

 _"I-I'm not… Worried… A-And you don't… Have to be… C-Call Abe, Jo… And go t-to… I… C-Come see me after… At my…"_

 _"Henry, don't…"_

 _"Jo, p-please…"_

She stopped talking after she saw a drop falling on Henry's cheek. It wasn't his drop but hers. One of her hands, trembling, covered her mouth while she stifled a sob. Henry blinked really slowly with a very little smile. One of his hands raised as slowly and softly touched Jo's cheek while a trickle of blood ran from the corner of his lips.

 _"I-It will be ok…"_

And it was ok. Henry deceased in her arms that night. His last breath crossed his lips while he was admiring Jo's wet face. She didn't saw his disappearance coming. She just saw his corpse and, like a second after, he was not there anymore. Again, she needed to realise. She couldn't help herself but cry.

.

.

.

After Abe receive Jo's call, he immediately headed to the East River after he told her she had to come over. First, she had to call Hanson, she couldn't let the corpse there. Jo seemed to be so devastated on the phone, he was worrying. But first of all he had to recover his father.

 _"Thank you, Abe, now I need you to drive me…"_

 _"I already told her she had to come. Don't worry."_

 _"You should have seen her… No, you shouldn't have, it really wasn't pleasant to see her like that. I need to talk to her, give me your phone._

 _"It's out of the question. You can't talk to her on the phone after that. You have to see her. But first, put some clothes on, I took them."_

Henry had a kind of grunt but he accepted his fate. He took the clothes on the back seat hardly put them on in the car. When they arrived at the shop, Jo was already there, looking around and checking her phone. Henry was heartbroken. He pursed his lips and looked at Abe when this one put one of his hands on his arm to encourage him. Finally, he went out the car. When he closed the door, Jo turned around and stopped moving, even breathing. The man who died in her arms was right in front of her. He crossed the little distance which separated them. He seemed to not know what he had to say. He could refrain himself from asking if she believed him now. He knew she did and that she was with no doubt shocked to see him there. Some seconds passed before her approach. Her hands met his cheeks again and she was looking at him intensely. She couldn't help but look down after a while. There was no blood on this apparently other shirt and she looked at him again, to tears. Her chin shook while she tried to talk. Henry slowly took her hands, brought them at his lips to softly kiss them, looking at Jo.

 _"It's ok, Jo."_

 _"Y-You're…_ _Alive…"_

He slowly nodded. She couldn't believe it, he was totally alright in front of her. The two of them didn't really know how the next thing happened. Was it the emotion? It helped. But there was no more secrets between them, no more barriers.

Jo's lips reminded him coffee, but it was salty because of her teardrops. Henry's lips were soft, it was a perfect contact for Jo. He still had her hands between his fingers while their lips touched. They were closed and their hearts skipped a beat when they entered in contact. Jo removed one of her hands from Henry's fingers. She needed to feel him near her and she strongly held his shirt between her fingers. Henry understood why she needed this contact and let her doing it. His free hand met her hip while one of his feet had a move towards her to be closer. They did separate their lips after a while. They felt each other's breath against their lips and they kissed again. A second time followed by a third before Jo lodged her face against Henry's neck, while his hands softly met Jo's back to show her he was right there.


	4. Chapter 3 - Great Fire

**Ok I didn't have Internet for a few days and I had to finish my exams (I succeed btw). It's been a while I didn't post anything but here I am. I wrote this chapter like three time and I don't think it's that good. I just wanted to do a funnier and less stringent one (is this sentence even correct?). I wanted to share moments between Jo and Henry, a flashback and I wanted to introduced the new character.**

 **I wanted to thank you all for the following and the kind reviews, it means a lot !**

 **Feel free to correct my english and enjoy !**

 **\- Je réponds aux reviews pour ceux à qui je ne peux pas le faire directement par mp ici, au passage - I'm answering here to the reviews for those I can't send a message to -**

 **Leslie: C'est normal que je réponde haha, mais je n'ai jamais ta review dès que tu l'envoie, à chaque fois deux jours après, c'est super chelou. Mais je suis contente que ça te plaise et enfin, oui, on peut dire qu'elle le croit ! Merci pour ton compte, j'irai un peu voir le contenu de celui-ci dès que j'ai le temps !**

 **Nathalie: C'est pour ça que je l'écris, pour me satisfaire moi même en attendant avec l'espoir que la série soit reprise par une autre chaîne, et parce que je sais que les gens aiment bien aussi lire des fictions en attendant ! Je suis vraiment contente que ça te plaise et si tu as des questions sur des passages que tu ne comprends pas ou autre, n'hésite pas!**

* * *

· The heat was unbearable. If Henry had to believe it, he was back in 1871, in Chicago. He was trying to help as many people as possible but there were like tons of persons. They were running, trying to put out the fire, to save their siblings. The fire ravaged everything in his path, flames ate every fences and all was burning to let nothing. The doctor was in front of an orphanage which was burning. They had rescued the kids but he didn't know if there was some left behind them. He was scared there were. He raised his head when he heard a window's breaking. He thought it was because of the fire, but something landed in the water located next to the building. He ran to see what it was. Two people emerged; an adolescent and a child. Henry quickly helped them in order to rescue them. The child was unconscious and the older one was severally burned. This person coughed, spat some water and talked like she could, between two complaints.

 _"S-Save him…"_

 _"Don't worry, I am a doctor, I will help both of…"_

 _"No! S-Save him, right now…"_

 _"I-I…"_

Henry stood up with the child in his arms.

 _"I'm coming back."_

He ran as fast as he could to bring the child near the other doctors. But when he came back, the adolescent wasn't there anymore. A loud crash was heard when the orphanage fell into ruins. ·

Henry awoke suddenly. His eyes opened and all he saw was the darkness of his bedroom.

.

 _._

 _._

Jo came early at the shop this morning, after Henry's call. This one didn't sleep after the night he had, he needed to think. When he was certain Jo would be awake, he called her. She was happy to hear him but she knew something happened at his voice and his way of talking. He asked her to come at the antique's shop, what she did immediately. She passed the door and saw Henry who smiled automatically, even if he was still perturbed.

 _"Hi there."_ She said with a smile as she approached the man she was dating since a week. Only Abe knew, they didn't want to talk about it to everyone right away. Henry took her hands and pulled her against him in order to reach her lips. He stayed close to her, he smiled brightly and answered.

 _"Hi… Slept well?"_

 _"I did, but I guess you didn't."_

 _"Not really, but I'm fine. I just need to talk to you about someth… Someone, actually."_

 _"Is there a problem?"_

 _"There are some things you need to know… Come with me."_

He said. He kept one of his hands in one of his while he brought her upstairs. She was wondering what can disturb him like that, even if he seemed happy to see her. She looked at their hands and had a smile on her lips. They both had difficulties to reach this point of their relationship but now, everything was alright. She followed her in the living room. The discussion took some time. Jo had a lot to learn from Henry, and there were not just things from his past. That's how she learnt the existence of Adam. That he was his stalker since the subway's murder, how he followed him, how he killed him three times now, that he was stuck in the hospital. That there were other immortals out there. After he explained all to her, after he had let her a little time to digest all of this, he finally could talk about Eden, the young woman in his dream and the one who came to see him at the morgue.

 _"It explains your call…"_

 _"So it's like that? Even if she wasn't here I would have call you, Jo."_

The woman had a smile and she softly pressed her lips against Henry's. They were sit next to each other on the couch and, finally alone, they just enjoyed this intimate moment.

 _"So, what are you going to do with her, Henry? You have to meet her."_

 _"You think like that too? Abe already told me something like that. I was waiting for her to come again at me."_

 _"You need to know why she wanted to see you."_

She passed her hand on Henry's cheek, continuing her way into his hairs.

 _"You need to help her; you told me she had no one even at that time. She was alone during all her life. You at least have to meet her."_

He looked at Jo with a little smile.

 _"Ok, I'll find a way to meet her."_

 _"You look really worried."_

 _"It's just… I couldn't save her. She had to cope along."_

 _"Henry…"_

 _"But she's here now. I'll find her."_ Said Henry as he stood up.

 _"Like right now?"_ She said with a laugh.

 _"Come."_ He said, grabbing her hand. He walked towards the piano. " _First of all, I want to enjoy this moment with you. We don't have the opportunity to be like that elsewhere._ _Do you know how to play any instrument?"_

 _"No… At your age, I'm pretty sure you can play with everything."_

 _"But my favorite is the piano."_

He held out his hand to the piano for Jo to take place. He sat next to her and looked at her. _I can play you whatever I want._ He explained with a bright smile.

He slowly put his finger on the piano's keys before he start. Jo could hear "Clair de lune", from Claude Debussy, a French compositor. All the song he could play reminded memories to Henry, but he wanted to create new ones with Jo. This one was looking at Henry's finger, which naturally ran over the keys. He changed his rhythm, now playing the "Second Nocturne" from Chopin. After that, he began to play "Childhood scenes" from Schumann.

 _"It's funny when I think I was already there when these songs were composed."_

Jo didn't answer. She knew Henry was intelligent, that he knew tons of different things and that he will never stop to surprised her. Today, girls love guitarist, but how she loved this pianist. He changed again.

 _"This composition is named "Geistervariationen" or "Ghost Variations if you prefer. This is Schumann's last piece of art. Do you know why he composed it?"_

Jo slowly shook her head, listening to the song and Henry's voice.

 _"He had an love story with a woman named Clara. Her father didn't appreciate this relationship. They exchanged love letters, had to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles and they had to be separated when Schumann went to an asylum after he attempted to kill himself. There, he will burn Clara's letters and he will decide to stop eating. What you heard now is the music he heard in his madness."_

He continued to play the song, looking at Jo sometimes. When it was over, he couldn't stop looking at her. Every time he crossed her eyes, he was lost. They shared this look during a moment before they kissed. They couldn't be tired of this contact; they had waited for too long. That's why they continued, they kissed again and again. Jo's hands pulled a little on his shirt while Henry slipped one of his own in her hair, the other one on her waist. They began to have a more languid exchange and they liked that. Of course, good event but wrong timing. Jo's phone rang at this time. The new couple separated their lips after the third ringing. Henry couldn't help but sighed while Jo gave him a little smile. Her hands came in his hairs while she took her phone. She picked up.

 _"Martinez. [...] Ok, I'll bring him there."_

She said looking at Henry. This one arched an eyebrow, articulating Lucas' name. But Jo shook her head, hung up her phone and looked again at Henry.

 _"Eden is under arrest. The only thing she said was that she wanted to see you."_

Henry didn't say anything, looking at Jo without moving. Finally, he blinked and stood up.

 _"Well, let's go see her."_

.

.

.

Henry really didn't understand how it was possible for her to be under arrest. Did she also swim naked in the East River? Actually, the reason was far from that.

 _"What, Four arrests in two years? Are you kidding me?"_

 _"Five now. She's a real thug, Henry, you didn't tell me that._ Said Jo, finding the situation pretty funny". She had Eden's record in her hands and all was written in that. " _The first one was twenty-two months ago. She fought with someone in a bar in Brooklyn, where she lives. The next one… Three months later, she was buying drugs."_ Henry couldn't stop pushing exclamation at every Jo's sentences. " _She stayed calm during months. Five months exactly before she threw a bottle of alcohol to a man, they fought and they were arrested. The next one was also for a fight, like today. I didn't know you like to hanging out with criminals."_ Said Jo with a little laugh.

 _"But I-I… Oh my god, I can't believe it!"_

 _"Stay calm, Henry, it's write, it wasn't her fault. Every time it was under provocation. In the file, it's written that she's eighteen now, she wasn't before… She was but not for the cops. She wasn't considered like an adult, that's why we are here today, she has nobody else."_

 _"Even if it was provocation, she…"_

 _"Henry. It's ok. You can't blame her; we don't know what she had been through. Let's talk to her."_ Jo show with her chin a silhouette, sat on a chair. She wasn't in front of them; Henry could only see her back. Her sweater's hood was on her head but the officer who arrested her said to Jo it was her. She looked at the pictures on her records. Since they had to take pictures of her side face, Jo could clearly see her injury. " _I bet she suffered a lot. Let's go."_

They started to move towards the young women when some cops get out from a room with a man handcuffed. This one looked at Eden. Henry and Jo could clearly see her raising her middle finger which was burn towards the man. Henry rolled his eyes and Jo sighed. They approached the girl to be in front of her. She raised her damaged head. Her pupils were light green, Henry never forgot this look. One of her eyes, the left one, was more closed than the other but she was used to it. Under her hood, her hairs were messy, they were black as crows. Her skin was very pale; the color of her eyes and her hairs stood up way more than her body color and gave an interesting contrast. Her keen eyes stayed on Henry, she didn't say a word. After some seconds while Henry and Eden had this exchange, she raised her hands to show them her handcuffs. Jo finally took the keys to open them. When she was finally released, Eden passed her fingers on her wrists and stood up. She wasn't tall, but apparently she was violent and knew how to fight. Her eyes finally let go of Henry and she looked at Jo. She talked with her broken voice.

 _"Thanks."_

Jo nodded like she said it was nothing and finally put her hand on Henry's shoulder. He still didn't say a word.

 _"Ok, let's go."_ Jo said.

They went on her car; it was the better place to talk discretely. Jo waited for Henry to be able to talk and think again. Sure it was weird for him, even if he knew he wasn't the only one since Adam. Eden staid on her seat, silently, apparently waiting. She was inexpressive since they saw her, they didn't know if it was usually or not, they really didn't know what she had in her mind. She starred at Henry again during a moment before she just looked in front of her. Jo started to drive.

 _"I wanted to know why you came at the morgue the other day."_ Began Henry, starring at Eden. This one answered with this non expression in his voice, like on her face, like she was bored.

 _"To see you."_

 _"I got it. But why did you want to see me? Because of our condition?"_

 _"No."_

Henry waited. Since she said nothing more, he asked again.

 _"Why?"_

 _"Did the kid survived?"_

 _"The k…"_ Henry interrupted himself and let a silent take place a few seconds. " _He survived. I didn't save him myself, I came back to look for you."_

Eden nodded and said nothing more. Henry was disconcerted. He knew he didn't bother her and that it wasn't because she wasn't interested that she didn't talk more. He understood immediately that she was just a quiet person, that she didn't like talking too much and that she was just inexpressive, non emotionless.

 _"How come you have been under arrest five times now?"_ Asked Jo. She wanted to know her better, to understand how she lives. " _If you don't want to talk, it's ok, I just want to know."_

 _"I'm tired to being starred at."_

 _"Being st…"_ Began to ask Jo before she understood she was talking about her injury. " _I see."_

Talking about her injury unleashed a sudden interest from Henry.

 _"Eden, do you mind showing me your scar when we will be somewhere else than a car?"_

 _"Henry, you can't ask that!"_ Said Jo, she didn't understand why he wanted to see her injury and how he could ask like that.

 _"It's ok, he's a doctor, I'm an interesting case for him, you know what I'm sayin'?"_ Eden was used to talk like that. She never articulated very well and talked a little bit like she was rapping the all-time. _Where are we going?_

 _"At the morgue, Henry has to work and he doesn't drive."_

 _"You're his driver?"_

 _"No really. But I use to be when I'm not working, since this man… Don't drive… Henry, don't you have a driving license at your age?"_

 _"See that with Abe."_ Henry said with a hand gesture to say he didn't want to be bother with this. " _Do you want to visit a morgue, Eden? We will be able to talk a little bit more."_

 _"Henry, I don't think she really want to…"_

 _"Awesome, since I died young, I never had an excuse to visit one of 'em!"_

Jo didn't know what to say. This girl was interesting and surprising when a word crossed her lips.

 _"Well, driver-"_

 _"You don't want to say that, Henry. You really don't want me to shoot you."_

Henry said nothing more but kept a smile on his lips until they arrived.

They entered the morgue, Eden still having her hood on her head and her hands in her pockets when they approached Lucas. He was near a John Doe they received the day before. The assistant turned around, ready to greet them when his eyes stopped on the person he saw some time before.

 _"Hey, you found Doctor Morgan!"_

Eden looked at him without saying anything, she raised her damaged hand to give him a sign as a "hi" before she put it again on her pocket. Her hands were both damaged but not entirely, it seems her injury took a part of her left arm and came on her hand by the right side of her wrist. Her hand was burn until her third finger but she two other were a little bit damaged. Her right fingers too. Nobody was able to take her fingerprints.

After this long look and the silence after Lucas's sentence, this one began to feel a little bit uncomfortable.

 _"Well, Doctor Morgan, didn't you want to find him?"_

 _"Actually Lucas…"_

 _"Yeah, he did. Call me Deryck, not "him" when I'm near you."_

 _"Sorry man, I didn't mean to be rude."_

 _"That's nothin'. So, you, you work with the boss over here, exact?"_

"The boss" still didn't say anything. Why would she want him to see her like a boy? He wanted to talk with her after, but first, he went near the body while Lucas started to talk about how he found the internship, his friendship with Henry who rolled his eyes. Eden was looking at him during a moment before she turned her head towards Jo.

 _"Does he always do that thing?"_

Lucas stopped talking and gesturing, looking at them. Jo raised an eyebrow and look at Eden.

 _"What thing?"_ Asked Jo.

 _"This thing he does with his mouth."_

 _"What thing?"_ Asked Lucas.

 _"That, man. This sound when you move your lips."_

Jo can't help but laugh a little while Lucas lowered his arm he raised while he was talking before. Eden walked over Lucas, gently tapped his shoulder.

 _"Just kiddin'. Hey, I know this man."_ She said, looking at the corpse. The three other persons in the morgue approached her.

 _"What? But nobody could tell who he is."_ Said Jo.

 _"But me, I can. He's from Brooklyn, I know him."_

A long silence followed her sentence. After a while, Henry broke it.

 _"So?"_

 _"What?"_ Said Eden.

 _"You said you know him."_

 _"Yeah, 'cause I do."_

Silence again.

 _"His name, E-Deryck."_ Said Henry.

 _"Julian."_

After a few seconds, Eden understood she didn't say everything.

 _"Julian Brown."_

 _"How did you meet him?"_ Asked Jo.

 _"He's a dealer."_

 _"You mean…"_

 _"Didn't I been arrested for…"_

 _"Yeah, ok. Julian Brown. Thank you, I will go to the precinct."_ Said Jo, turning around towards Henry. But she couldn't say goodbye to him properly since Lucas was there and they didn't want people to know. She just nodded and left.

 _"Lucas, do you mind_ taking _care of that body? I need to figure out some things with… Deryck."_

 _"I got it."_ He said while Henry and Eden headed to Henry's office.

 _"Deryck?"_

 _"Yeah, I'm just jerking him around. Isn't he stupid? That's why I do that."_

Henry stayed silent because of a lack of contradictions. He looked at Lucas to see if he was watching them and did a sign towards Eden.

 _"Show it to me."_

After a few seconds, Eden resigned and approached Henry. She took off her outfit, staying in her t-shirt for a while. Henry could see the bandages under it because it was also on her left arm.

 _"Why do you keep these bands?"_

"' _Cause I'm not just fooling your friend out there. Actually, with that, it's easier to live as a man. It's like I don't have a breast, since it's not that big anyway. There's less mean words from the others. So I live as Deryck Cone. Except when I'm arrested, since they have my records."_

Henry said nothing, he just thought about her life.

 _"Remove your shirt and the band. Keep your back in front of me if it makes you feel more comfortable."_

That's what she did but more because the injury was also on her back, not on her chest. Beside her face, her neck, her arm and her hands, her back was injured too. It started from her left shoulder and took a part of the upper part of her back. Henry was inspecting it seriously. It was incredibly well healed. Henry understood that like his own scar, the explication for hers was just a part of the processes. Since she was an immortal, her first injury healed by herself. Henry looked at her face, well the back of her head, when he put his hand on the scar on her back to see if she had a movement at his contact. It wasn't the case. He pushed gently his hand on the scar but she didn't move.

 _"Do you feel something?"_

 _"What?"_

 _"When I touch your scar?"_

 _"Huh? No, it's been a while I lost my sensibility on the damaged parts of my body."_

 _"Maybe it's for the best."_

 _"I dunno man, if I injure myself, I don't feel it."_

Her life must be complicated.


End file.
